


Mirage

by yashkonu



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-21 05:32:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6040134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yashkonu/pseuds/yashkonu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reality is a tentative thing, when you can forge it on a whim.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Illusions were a bit like dreams, sometimes. Or perhaps it was the other way around? Sometimes it was difficult to tell.

When Emerald was small, she’d sometimes see things that weren’t there. Things she wanted to see, things she hoped she might see.

Things she hoped she’d never see.

Later in life, for simplicity’s sake, she’d refer to using her semblance on someone as placing _one_  person under an illusion, and using it on two people as placing _two_ people under an illusion. This was not, technically, true. No matter who else she included, the first to fall under the spell was always Emerald herself.

When Emerald was small, sometimes her thoughts would flicker to life in ways she couldn’t always predict.

Things she wanted, things she hated, things she loved so much that when the illusion ran its course she wept in broken silence.

Illusions were a bit like dreams, sometimes, in the best and worst of ways. Sometimes Emerald’s dreams were agony, sometimes there were bliss. Sometimes she’d wake up from a dream and her semblance would work feverishly on reflex to fill the void, to keep the dream alive a moment longer.

Emerald saw a device, a tiny earpiece, that would produce a soft, rhythmic chirping when its wearer was expending aura. She stole it. It was easy.

She never took it off.


	2. Chapter 2

Ruby woke up feeling conspicuously fine.

Fine because she had slept well and nothing out of the ordinary had happened the night before, conspicuously so because she appeared to be on fire. She watched the flames lick at her arms, her legs, her chest, with the detached curiosity reserved for those who really have no idea what is going on. She put a hand to the ragged hole in her chest, the gashes on her side. It came away wet.

Ruby peered through the dense smoke obscuring the room -- which, upon inspection, didn't seem to actually be her room. The paint was bubbling and peeling with the heat, but she could tell the smoke-stained walls were the wrong color.

Then she saw the banner. Hand-painted letters, hanging across the doorway from a ribbon that had somehow escaped the flames.

_HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMERALD_

Ruby knew this story.

“Em? Em, are you there?” Her voice wasn't quite her own. She fought against the illusion, willing what she knew to be _Ruby_ to shine through. “Emerald, where are you?”

A quiet whimper, barely audible over the constant crackle and roar, caught her ears. Emerald was curled tight in a corner, fear and firelight dancing in wide eyes just visible over her knees. They snapped shut when Ruby moved to sit beside her, and she shuddered at the first touch on her shoulder.

“It’s me, Em. It’s Ruby. Ruby Rose, your girlfriend, alright? This isn't real, I promise.”

No response, but reality began to seep back before Ruby’s eyes. The blood on her hands faded, her clothes became her own again, the flames ceased to burn so bright.

“You’re safe, I promise. We’re in our room at my dad’s house, sleeping in separate beds like he insisted.” The smoke stains faded from the walls, the paint there shifted slowly to its usual tone. “Dad made chicken parmesan last night, remember?”

A hoarse whisper, low and raw. “... sucked.”

Ruby couldn't quite pin back a single chuckle at that. “Yeah, kinda. He tries.”

Emerald’s eyes opened a sliver as the last of the blaze disappeared, stowed safely once more in her memories. “And… and Yang backhanded Qrow with her new arm, right?”

It was a process, but every sliver of _real_ added up. “Yeah, she did. She _claims_ she's just getting used to it, but I think she just wanted to smack him. Are you…”

“I'm… I'm okay. Not good, but… it wasn't real. It wasn't… _fuck_ , it wasn't real.”

Ruby’s arm tightened around her shoulder, pulling her close. Emerald relaxed by degrees, melting into her side as the silent minutes passed.

“... you… you looked like my-”

“You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. You don't owe me an explanation, Em.”

“Right. Yeah, I… thank you.” She pressed her face into Ruby’s shoulder, muffling her words. “Thank you.”

And that was so much of her, so much of what weighed on her shoulders. Every mistake had to be explained, every kindness had to be returned. Ruby did all she could, whenever she could, to impress upon her girlfriend that it was _okay_. Kindness could be freely given, mistakes could just be mistakes.

Memories could just be memories, even when they weren’t.

She held Emerald close, and they weathered the past together.


End file.
